Trial to test the feasibility of Exero’s system for early detection of anastomotic leaks

OR YEHUDA, ISRAEL – May 18, 2020 – Exero Medical, developer of a wireless sensor for early detection of anastomotic leaks following GI surgery, today announced that it will start its first clinical trial at the Rabin Medical Center to test the feasibility of its system. The clinical trial has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Rabin Medical Center and Israel’s Ministry of Health.

Researchers at Rabin Medical Center will use Exero’s system to collect data from the sensor during low anterior resection surgery. The results of the trial will enable the company to refine its detection algorithms based on real-life data.

“Exero Medical addresses the $2 billion anastomotic leak (AL) market for which current approaches can only detect leaks post-op when the situation has become life-threatening for the patient,” said Dr. Erez Shor, CEO of Exero Medical. “Incidence and cost of AL is alarmingly high. Through early detection of anastomotic leaks, physicians can intervene earlier and save lives.”

Anastomotic leaks have a 6-10 percent occurrence rate post-operation in lower GI procedures and can lead to life threatening complications, with substantial risk of mortality. There is currently no solution to address the high incidence of post-operative anastomotic leaks. The occurrence of AL is not a function of the surgeon’s skill or the equipment used but can happen to any patient following surgery.

“Currently, the risk of anastomotic leak after resection surgery is one of the fears keeping surgeons up at night. GI resection procedures to remove cancerous growths are performed on patients whose health is already fragile. The additional, potentially fatal risk of leaks requires an innovative solution,” explained Prof. Nir Wasserberg MD, Chairman of the Israeli Society of colorectal surgery and Director of the Division of Colorectal Surgery at Rabin Medical Center. “Exero has developed a platform that has the potential to provide surgeons with data they have never before had access to – real-time information on tissue healing. This will arm physicians with the insight they need to intervene before a patient’s status becomes catastrophic.”

Exero Medical’s sensor along with its proprietary machine learning algorithms is designed to monitor and analyze the surrounding tissue, sending live feedback to healthcare staff regarding the tissue healing progress.

Exero Medical is a portfolio company of MEDX Xelerator, an Israeli Innovation Authority incubator which is joint initiative of Boston Scientific, Intellectual Ventures, MEDX Ventures and Sheba Medical Center.

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About Exero Medical

Exero Medical saves lives through early detection of anastomotic leaks following gastrointestinal (GI) surgeries, addressing a $2 billion market with its patented sensor technology. The company has created a patent-pending implantable biodegradable wireless sensor designed to continuously monitor the GI tract near the surgical site, alerting physicians to potential anastomotic leakage post-operation. Driven by an adaptive machine-learning engine, Exero’s sensors are intended to detect patient deterioration during the recovery period, and also enable early patient discharge by identifying healthy tissue healing. Operating under MEDX Xelerator, Exero Medical is backed by Boston Scientific, MEDX Ventures and Intellectual Ventures.

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Shai Policker

Chief Executive Officer

In the last 20 years, Shai has been leading development, clinical validation and commercialization of innovative medical devices for various indications such as heart failure (Impulse Dynamics), metabolic (MetaCure) and GI diseases (EndoStim). Shai holds an Electrical Engineering degree from the Technion, Israel Institute of technology and an MBA from Columbia University. He is an inventor of 40 issued patents.

Gal Atarot

Chief Technology Officer

For more than 15 years, Gal has led multidisciplinary system design and development teams, from the concept phase through to production. Most recently, he has been leading the research and development group at Medical Surgery Technologies (MST), a company that develops and markets an image-guided laparoscope positioning system. Previously, Gal had served for 10 years at an elite technological unit in the IDF’s Intelligence Corps, specializing in micro-mechanics, high-precision electro-optical systems, R&D team leading and project management.
Currently, in addition to his CTO role at MEDX Xelerator, Gal is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at XACT Robotics Ltd.

Gal holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (cum laude) and an M.E. in Biomedical Engineering, both from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Inbal Landsberg

Chief Business Officer

For over 15 years Inbal has been leading development, commercialization and evaluation of health-tech projects and ventures. Most recently Inbal served as VP of business development at Ramot, the tech transfer company of Tel Aviv University, commercializing its life science technologies and managing the life science pillar of the Momentum Fund. Prior to that, she was a Business Development Manager at Dexcel Pharma, one of Israel’s largest globally operating pharma companies, where she pursued due-diligence of early-stage innovative pharma projects. In addition, Inbal was also Co-founder of two seed raising start-ups. Inbal holds a PhD (magna cum laude) from Tel-Aviv University in Genetics and a Post-Doctoral degree in bioinformatics from Stanford University.

Noam Taichler

Chief Financial Officer

For more than 10 years, Noam has been practicing financial and operational management. His hands-on experience includes all aspects of accounting, budgeting, fundraising, capital allocation, M&A transactions, tax planning, reporting, and cash flow management. Noam has expertise in business planning and strategy, financial and legal due diligence. He brings extensive experience in finance and management of early-stage companies and specializes in the interface with the Israel Innovation Authority. Most recently he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Hutchison Kinrot Incubator and its portfolio companies. Previously, Noam was the Finance Manager of Israel Petrochemical Enterprises Ltd. where he also held a variety of positions in business development, corporate governance, and investor relations. Noam started his career as a consultant at the Business and Financial Advisory Divisions of Ernst & Young and Deloitte.

Noam holds a BA in Management, Accounting and Economics and an MBA (cum laude) with a major in Financial Management, both from Tel Aviv University. He is also a Certified Accountant (CPA).

Soli Cohen-Dahan

HR and Administrative Manager

For more than 15 years, Soli has held personal assistance and administration roles in hi-tech and consumer products companies in Israel. Most recently she served as a Purchaser in Ludantech company. Previously she held the positions of CEO Personal Assistant & Product Development Manager at Com International Coordination in toiletry and cosmetics fields. Prior to this role, she worked as a CEO Personal Assistant and Office Coordinator at the Walt Disney Company consumer products division in Israel. Previously she worked as a CEO Personal Assistant and Office Manager at Amironic hi-tech company and promoted to a Purchaser.
Soli began her career as an English Teacher at the Ministry of Education in Israel and worked as an English Teacher & English Coordinator for several years.

Soli holds a B.ed in English and a teaching license from Beit Berl College.
In 2017 she studied Graphic Design at Studio 6b and she holds a Graphic Designer certificate.

Orit Halevy

Accountant

Orit has over 25 years of experience in accounting and is an accredited accountant. Prior to joining MEDX Xelerator Orit worked as Chief Accountant at Vidisco, which specializes in the design and manufacturing of X -ray inspection systems. Prior to Vidisco, Orit worked for several years as Chief Accountant at several high-tech companies, primarily in the fields of homeland security and telecommunications. Orit began her career at Tadiran, and Israeli electronics conglomerate, as a bookkeeper. Orit earned her accreditation at the College of Management Academic Studies.

Eyal Morag, MD

Recently he served as the Regional Radiology Director at Mercy Health Partners Hospitals in Toledo, Ohio. He was a member of University Radiology Group (one of the largest private radiology groups in the U.S.), where he headed the International Investment efforts for the Ventures division.

Following his clinical training, Dr. Morag joined a private practice in western Massachusetts, where he served as Chief of Radiology at Holyoke Medical Center for several years.
Dr. Morag has extensive international experience developing and establishing radiology-related businesses. During his fellowship, Dr. Morag co-founded InTek Technology, a medical device startup company. He later founded Global Versa Radiology (GVR), an Israeli- and U.S.- based Teleradiology Company that has expanded reach to provide interventional radiology services to U.S. hospitals. GVR has established imaging centers in Russia and the Ukraine and provided teleradiology services in countries outside the U.S. and Israel. Dr. Morag served as GVR’s Chief Medical Officer and Vice-President. He is currently involved in several startup companies ranging from AI to medical devices.

Harel Gadot

Chairman, CEO and Company Group Chairman MEDX Ventures

A seasoned executive and entrepreneur in the healthcare space, Harel has over 16 years of experience in leadership positions in the corporate world and the start-up sector in the United States, Europe and Israel. In 2010, he founded MEDX Ventures Group, an investment and management firm with offices in the US, Europe and Israel, and serves as its CEO and Company Group Chairman. In 2015, he established MEDX Xelerator as a partnership between MEDX Ventures Group, Boston Scientific, Intellectual Ventures and Sheba Medical Center. Harel serves as CEO and Chairman of Microbot Medical Ltd. and Chairman of XACT Robotics Ltd., both promising early stage medical device companies in the MEDX portfolio.

Until 2013, Harel served on the board of directors at ConTIPI Ltd., and played an instrumental role in its commercial efforts, resulting in its acquisition by Kimberly Clark Corporation in 2012.

Earlier, Harel was Worldwide Group Marketing Director at Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson company, overseeing global strategic marketing. During his tenure, Ethicon enjoyed continuous revenue growth and new product launches, from both internal R&D and M&A. He previously led marketing activities for Ethicon in Europe, Middle East and Africa and held key management positions at Johnson & Johnson Medical Israel.

A former professional basketball player, Harel played for numerous professional teams in the Israeli and European leagues. Prior to turning professional, Harel played at Siena College for the Siena Saints, an NCAA Division I Basketball Program.

Harel is a guest speaker for management and innovation courses at leading universities in the United States and Israel.

Harel holds a BSc degree from Siena College (US) and an MBA from Manchester University (UK).

David Knapp, PhD

Vice President, Corporate Research, Boston Scientific Corporation

Dave Knapp, vice president, Corporate Research, Boston Scientific, has been working to treat unmet needs in coronary, cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine for 20 years. At Boston Scientific, Dave leads initiatives to drive innovation and new growth in white space areas and expand to new geographies. One of his key areas of focus has been coordinating open collaborative efforts, including developing relationships with external institutions and connecting across disciplines and functions to drive meaningful innovation. Dave has held a number of roles within Boston Scientific, spanning from development efforts in drug-eluting stents to exploratory and commercialization phases of the development cycle for various medical technologies in the cardiovascular space. He is an author on a number of publications in the areas of biopolymer rheology, in vitro assays for cell migration and traction, and modeling mechanisms of release from controlled release formulations. He holds a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science of the University of Minnesota.

Kate Sharadin

Senior Director of Business Development, Intellectual Ventures

Kate Sharadin is the Senior Director of Business Development for Intellectual Ventures. In this capacity she is responsible for the direction of the healthcare practice developing commercial opportunities around the firm’s internal invention arm. Additionally, she is responsible for the strategic focuses around new invention opportunities across all segments of healthcare including life sciences, medical technology/devices and eHealth/digital health. Her key focus includes the commercialization of the firm’s invention and IP portfolio by incubation of new spinout companies as well as licensing programs for the same portfolios. Kate’s background includes 18 years in the equity capital markets in equity research and investment banking focusing on biotech, medical technology and healthcare IT. During her years covering the healthcare markets on Wall Street, she specialized in the areas of cardiovascular, orthopedics, urology, ophthalmology, diagnostics, diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT/informatics. Kate spent five years as an independent consultant to medical device and life sciences companies focusing on business strategy including M&A and venture financing (for early stage companies), market development programs for small and large cap companies and building institutional investor relations programs for small and midcap device companies.

Gilad Peleg Lorberbaum

Managing General Partner, Corundum Open Innovation Fund

A seasoned Life Sciences executive, with a broad and diverse experience base over 23 years, from blue chip corporate pharma business development, to start up innovation, and venture capital management.

Currently Managing General Partner at Corundum Open Innovation Fund, an Israel-Japan life sciences venture capital fund, and Managing Director at JOY Neuro wellness Innovation hub;
Earlier on Gilad held the position of C.O.O. at Rainbow Medical / RMD (www.rainbowmd.com), A $ 200M operational investment company innovating, incorporating, and investing in 12 portfolio companies, and developing over 25 pipeline projects.
Prior to RMD, Gilad was the CEO at NanoCyte Inc., an unrivaled topical drug delivery platform technology start up, leveraging micron size sea life injectors for effective trans-dermal delivery of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, where Gilad led the company from idea to clinical proof of concept and strategic licensing;
Earlier positions included Vice President at Reico Ventures med-tech venture capital, managing a portfolio of med-tech companies, adding value to the portfolio, and leading strategic transactions;
Director Corporate Business Development at Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA), where Gilad contributed to the M&A process of 5 of Teva key acquisitions;
Finance Manager at Teva Pharmaceutical R&D division managing a budget of $ 50 M, and initiating global joint development agreements.

Gilad earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and a Masters degree in Business Administration, from the University of Hartford, Connecticut USA.

Gilad is married, with 2 daughters, and resides in Israel.

Shai Policker

Chief Executive Officer, MEDX Xelerator

In the last 15 years, Shai has been leading development and commercialization of innovative medical devices for various indications such as heart failure, metabolic and GI diseases. Most recently he has been the Chief Operating Officer of EndoStim Inc. that developed a neurostimulator for treating GERD. Previously he held the positions of VP Business Development at MetaCure Inc. and VP R&D at Impulse Dynamics Ltd. Shai is an author or co-inventor of 28 issued patents.

Shai holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion and an MBA from Columbia University.

Shlomo Noy, MD, PhD

Chairman of THM, Sheba Medical Center

Prof. Shlomo Noy graduated from the Hebrew University Hadassah School of Medicine in Jerusalem (1978). After serving as a medical doctor in the Israeli Naval Forces, he received his MBA from INSEAD, Fountainbleau (1985) and PhD. in Health Care Management from the Tel Aviv University (1997). He is board certified in Psychiatry and Health Care Management (1990).
Prof. Noy has served as Director of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center Rehabilitation Hospital since 1993, and as Director of Research and Development, and Academic Affairs since 2000.
He is a Professor at the Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv University since 1998 and currently the Chairman of THM, the technology transfer company of Sheba Medical Center

Robert Langer, PhD

Institute Professor at MIT

Robert Langer is an Institute Professor at MIT (there are 13 Institute Professors at MIT; being an Institute Professor is the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member).Over 300 of his trainees are now professors, 13 have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering and 9 have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, and 34 to the Technology Review 35. His h-index of 222 is the highest of any engineer in history and he has over 1,100 issued and pending patents worldwide. His patents have licensed or sublicensed to over 300 companies. He served as Chairman of the FDA’s SCIENCE BOARD (it’s highest advisory board) from 1999-2002. Langer is also one of very few individuals ever elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. He is one of four living individuals to have received both the United States National Medal of Science and the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2015, Dr. Langer received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the world’s largest engineering prize. He has also received the Charles Stark Draper Prize (sometimes referred to as the engineering Nobel Prize), the Albany Medical Center Prize, the Wolf Prize for Chemistry, the Millennium Technology Prize, the Priestley Medal (highest award of the American Chemical Society), the Gairdner Prize, the Kyoto Prize, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Lemelson-MIT Prize, for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine.” He holds 27 honorary doctorates including honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale.

Eric Leuthardt, MD

Washington University

Dr. Leuthardt is a neurosurgeon who is currently an associate professor with the Department of Neurological Surgery, and the Departments of Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is Director of the Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology and the Brain Laser Center.
He received his B.S. in Biology and Theology at St. Louis University in 1995 and received his M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine in 1999. He went on to complete his training at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis in 2005 and then completed a combined fellowship in epilepsy and spinal surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle in 2006. His research has focused on neuroprosthetics – devices linked to the brain that may restore function to patients with motor disabilities. His work in the field of neuroprosthetics and neurosurgical devices has yielded him numerous accolades as a scientist, a neurosurgeon, and an inventor.
Dr. Leuthardt uses an integrated approach by employing multiple domains of expertise ranging from biomedical engineering, clinical neurosurgery, mathematical modeling, complex signal analysis, and computer programming. In addition to numerous peer-reviewed publications, Leuthardt has over 1400 patents on file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for medical devices and brain computer interface technologies. He is also the founder of five startup companies.

David Bomback, MD

Western Connecticut Health

Dr. Bomback has excelled throughout his entire academic career. He graduated cum laude from Columbia College, Columbia University where he was named one of only five Rabi Scholars (for mathematics and science) in his class. He then earned his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, once again graduating at the top of his class with honors. He was named to the Alpha Omega Alpha Society and earned numerous accolades including the Bertsch Prize and Cummins awards for most promising surgeon. He then completed his internship and residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital, and ultimately served as Chief Resident there as well. His professionalism and spinal research earned him the top two graduating awards (Southwick and Chrisman Awards) in addition to a national Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Prize.
Dr. Bomback then completed a Spine and Scoliosis Fellowship at the world-renowned Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, NY) studying all aspects of spinal care including both pediatric and adult. He practices in southwestern Connecticut at the state- and nationally- recognized CT Neck & Back, Specialists, LLC. He devotes his entire practice to spine care – both surgical and nonsurgical. He treats all spinal conditions including complex spinal deformities (scoliosis and kyphosis) as well revision spinal fusions. In addition, he performs a vast amount of minimally invasive spinal procedures, reducing pain and hospital stay. He serves on the Professional Practice Evaluation Committee for Western CT Health Network as the sole surgeon representative, reviewing all cases with significant complications (giving him a particular expertise in second opinions and recognition regarding surgical appropriateness.) He also leads as the Medical Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery/Neurosurgery Unit at Western Connecticut Health Network.

Dr. Bomback has published original research in the top spine publications (Spine, The Spine Journal) and has written numerous articles/chapters relevant to his expertise. He has lectured both nationally and internationally on spinal fusion surgery. Reader’s Digest featured him for his “miracle of surgery”. He has consistently been named a Top Doctor by U.S. News & World Report, a CT Top Doc, Americas Top Orthopaedist, as well as Castle Connolly Top Doctor for Orthopaedics.

Barry T. Katzen MD, FACR, FACC, FSIR

University of Miami School of Medicine

Dr. Katzen is Voluntary Professor of Radiology at the University of Miami School of Medicine as well as Clinical Professor of Radiology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, and most recently became Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.
Dr. Katzen received his medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed his radiology residency at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, with fellowship in cardiovascular radiology at St. Vincents Hospital Medical Center in New York, as well as the University of Rome, Italy. He later trained in Europe on several occasions, developing a deep understanding of the delivery of healthcare in multinational settings.
Dr. Katzen is considered a pioneer of angioplasty thrombolysis and has a particular interest in treatment of aortic (AAA, TAA) and peripheral aneurysms, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia, carotid artery disease, renal vascular hypertension, and vascular malformations. He has participated in the innovation of new therapies for a number of vascular diseases.
Dr. Katzen had been awarded fellowships in American College of Cardiology, American College of Radiology, Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology (SIR), and Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE). He is one of the few and non-surgeons, awarded membership in the Society for Vascular Surgery in the United States.
Dr. Katzen currently serves on the following advisory boards: Boston Scientific, COOK Medical, Philips Medical, Medtronic, IC Sciences, Nellix, Inc., W.L. Gore, Cordis, CR Bard.
Dr. Katzen is a member of several societies, including the Society of Interventional Radiology, American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association; currently he is a member of the Board of Trustees for the RSNA Research and Education Foundation. Dr. Katzen was awarded the Society of Interventional Radiology's Gold Medal for lifetime achievement, as well as receiving the Gold Medal from the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE), first American received such recognition. He had also been entered into the "Hall of Fame" University of Miami School of Medicine, as well as receiving the Gold Medal from the Alumni Association.
Throughout his medical career, Dr. Katzen has been a leader in the development of new less invasive procedures, and published extensively in the scientific literature. Additionally, he serves on editorial boards for numerous journals, and has been the founding editor of two journals in the field, he is author and co-author of numerous text books as well. Dr. Katzen had an early interest in the use of the Internet for education and physician interaction, and in 1995, along with his partners, founded the Endovascular Forum, one of the first interactive physician websites in the world.

Igal Zuravicky, MD

Albany Memorial Hospital

Dr. Igal Zuravicky is currently practicing cardiology and lipidology in Albany N.Y. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular diseases, and Lipidology.
He received his B.S. in Biology at Columbia University, NYC, NY in 1970 and received his M.D. at the University of Lausanne School of Medicine, Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1976. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk Ct. and his fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY.
Dr. Zuravicky has greater than 30 years’ experience in invasive and non-invasive cardiology. He has expertise in both invasive laboratory cardiology, as well as echocardiography and nuclear cardiac imaging laboratories, and has served as director of both for many years.
For the past decade, Dr. Zuravicky has practiced an integrated approach to cardiovascular care, emphasizing both primary and secondary prevention, risk stratification combining multiple biomarkers assessment, and a variety of risk reduction management modalities.

Jacob (Kobi) Cohen, MD

AYA Medical

Dr. Jacob (Kobi) Cohen is a renowned womens’ health specialist, and Medical Director and co-founder of Aya Medical Center, Campus Assuta Medical Center, the first center for Womans’ gender medicine which offers total medical care to Women.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude in Medicine from Tel Aviv University in 1982.During his many years of experience he has held the post of Head of Ambulatory Outpatient Clinic and Head of Endoscopic (Hysteroscopic) Services at Lis Maternity Hospital, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv. He was also for many years Senior Physician, department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Serlin Maternity Hospital, Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Dr. Cohen conducted his fellowship studies in the advanced study of Minimally-Invasive Surgery under Dr. A. Magos of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London, UK and in Endoscopy under Professor Rafael F. Valle at the North Western University Medical School, Chicago, USA. He also did fellowship studies in Fertility Endocrinology under Professor B.Lonenfeld at the Institute of Endocrinology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, and Diagnostic and Operative Hysteroscopy under Professor S.Baroux, Tenon Hospital, Paris, France.
His research fellowship topic was Recurring Miscarriages under Professor Y. Shoenfeld at the Research Unit of Autoimmune Diseases, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. He also participated in a clinical fellowship in Ultrasound under Professor Meisner at Soroka Medical Center,Beer Sheva,Israel and In Vitro Fertilization at Serlin Maternity Hospital at Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Dr. Cohen is also the CMO and Co-founder of Fibro Control’s innovative technology for the treatment of uterine tumors. He is involved in the development, advisory, management and progress of clinical trials.
For the last 30 years he has been a member of the Israel Medical Association. Since then he has become a member of countless renowned associations at home and Internationally. He has also served for many years on the International Advisory Board of the American Association of Gynecological Laparoscopy, and as a reviewer of its journal. He also serves on the board of the Israeli Society of Endoscopy.
Throughout his career he has written and published numerous peer reviewed articles and presented at conferences at home and Internationally. He has also been a regular contributor of articles on all matters of womans‘ health in Womans’ magazines, on line health forums, and on medical magazine programs on Television.

Menaheam Neuman, MD

Narhariya Hospital

Prof. Menahem Neuman, specializes in Gynecology, pelvic floor relaxation and pelvic organ prolapse medicine, female urinary incontinence and pelvic floor prolapse surgery.
In addition to his position at the Galilee M.C. Prof. Neuman teaches at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine – Safed, Israel, and mentors fellow surgeons from Israel as well as over-seas countries, with the newest surgical methods. Prof. Neuman served J&J Ethicon as a surgical consultant and mentor across Europe, South Africa and was a member of their innovation council for years.
Prof. Neuman is a fellow of the International Urogynecology Association, the International Society of Pelviperineology, the Israeli Society of Pelvic Floor Medicine (and was the secretary of this organization lately). He is a member of editorial boards of the International Urogynecology Journal and of the Pelviperineology. To his credit, Prof. Neuman was developing the newly designed mini-mesh sling at Serag –Wiessner, Naila, Germany. He is the medical director of POP Medical Solutions – a medical devices start-up company, and consultant for Memic (a robotic medical start-up company) and for Bluewind – a magnetic therapy start-up company. Prof. Neuman is world-wide well known for his expertise in female pelvic floor reconstructive procedures.
Prof. Neuman’s research interests are primarily devoted to female urology and pelvic floor medicine. He is the author and coauthor of about 100articles on these and related topics, which are published in prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Journal of Urology, European Journal of Urology, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurourology and Urodynamics, Int. Urogynecology Journal and many others. Prof. Neuman has organized international scientific meetings and delivered local, regional, national, and international invited presentations in his field. He has been Principal Investigator for more than 60 clinical research studies.

Christopher Macomber, MD

UMass Memorial

Dr. Macomber is a general surgeon and medical technology entrepreneur with a background in medical device development and health information technology. He is the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of UV Therapeutics, a med tech company developing a device based approach for system immune modulation and is currently conducting its first human clinical trial for the treatment of Lupus.
Dr. Macomber recently co-founded a mobile EMR integration platform for providers, Mozaic Medical, that will be launching it’s first platform in 2015. He is the co-founder and assistant director of the Surgical Technology Innovation and Commercialization program at UMass (STIC-UM) and co-founder of the Institute for Inflammatory Disease (INSIDE) at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. He also performs medical technology consulting for industry companies.
Dr. Macomber received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Music from Union College in 2005, an MBA in Health Care Management from the Graduate College of Union University in 2006 and an MD with Distinction in Health Management Systems from Albany Medical College in 2009, as part of the Eight-Year Leadership in Medicine BS/MBA/MD program. He also completed a two-year research fellowship in surgical outcomes and surgical technology innovation and attended the Program in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2011. Concurrently with his role at UVT, Chris is completing his last year of general and laparoscopic surgery as Chief Resident at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Lindsay Machan, MD

FRCPC

Dr. Lindsay Machan is the regional lead of Angiography and Interventional Radiology at Vancouver Coastal Health, a founding member of the Canadian Interventional Radiology Association, and was formerly President of the Western Angiographic and Interventional Society. In 1992, Dr. Machan co-founded Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSE:ANP) and is the co-inventor of patents regarding paclitaxel stent coating (licensed by Boston Scientific and Cook) and patents on biologically active coatings for endovascular stent grafts. Dr. Machan is the recipient of the 2006 Manning Innovation Principal Award and serves on the board of several medical-device companies.

Gilad Amiel, MD

RAMBAM Health Care Campus

Dr. Gilad E. Amiel currently serves as Chairman of the Department of Urology at Rambam Health Care Campus, Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel.

Dr. Amiel’s clinical practice consists of urologic oncology and genitourinary reconstruction. He performs robotic, laparoscopic, and open surgery for bladder, kidney, prostate, testis and penile cancer. Procedures include robotic cystectomy, robotic partial nephrectomy, robotic prostatectomy, minimally invasive & focal therapy for prostate cancer, salvage and complex reconstructive urinary operations. Dr. Amiel’s basic research focuses on genitourinary reconstruction utilizing biological matrices and novel treatments for bladder cancer. His clinical research projects focus on treatments for bladder and prostate cancer, as well as on cancer education. He is also very active in smoking cessation initiatives.

Dr. Amiel received several teaching and education awards and until recently served as the president of the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE). He currently serves on the executive council and is the treasurer of the European Association for Cancer Education (EACE), which he hosted in Haifa for the 2018 EACE 31st annual meeting. Dr. Amiel is a member of the American Urological Association (AUA), Urology Research Foundation (URS), Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), Israel Medical Association (IMA), and the Israeli Association for Medical Education, as well as the director of CME for the Northern Israeli Urology Forum. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Cancer Education and a reviewer for several urological, educational, and bioengineering journals. He received thus far 17 grants, including an NIH-SBIR Grant totaling over $3 million and was principal or co-investigator in numerous clinical trials. He has co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 35 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information, visit www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and Facebook.

Intellectual Ventures is a global inventions company. Founded in 2000, we provide the world’s most innovative companies with access to valuable patents and invention related services while creating a wide range of technology-focused partnerships and wholly new companies. Our Invention Science Fund has developed thousands of inventions in fields as diverse as energy, medical technology, eHealth, metamaterials, communications and more. These inventions have led to an array of spinout companies and products that have received hundreds of millions of investment dollars for commercialization.

In the words of Adriane Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer

We’ve been engaged in Israel for several years exploring how we can marry our invention generation and commercialization efforts with Israel’s renowned academic and entrepreneurial communities. I believe that MEDX Xelerator is a great cornerstone for us to do so. I’m confident that together with our partners, Boston Scientific, MEDX Ventures Group, and Sheba Medical Center, the MEDX Xelerator will be the center for commercialization promising innovative ideas and ventures within Israel’s healthcare sector.

MEDX Ventures Group, founded in 2010, is an investment and management firm with offices in Israel, USA and Europe. The company believes in active management (vs. passive investment) and is focused on medical ventures and technologies based in Israel. MEDX Ventures Group utilizes its unique X MODEL which include its core R&D, Regulatory & Clinical, Intellectual Property, Commercial and Finance team to support the entrepreneurs and enhance the value of its portfolio of ventures.

In the words of Harel Gadot, CEO and Company Group Chairman

“The entrepreneur, whether a researcher, a physician or other, is our most important asset; over the past years we expanded our X MODEL, which is the core of our operations, to support the entrepreneurs and enhance ventures’ value. We are truly excited about the opportunity the incubator presents, as with our leading global and domestic partners we can now allow more entrepreneurs, at different project stages, to benefit from our X MODEL value-enhancement and ensure they have a long-term outlook on their ventures.”

The Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer is a university-affiliated tertiary referral hospital that serves as Israel’s national medical center in many fields.

Adjacent to Tel Aviv, it is the most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East, renowned for its compassionate care and leading-edge medicine. With over 800 clinical trials held at Sheba Medical Center per year, of which 300 studies were a collaboration with industry partners, it is also a major medical-scientific research powerhouse that collaborates internationally with the bio-tech and pharmaceutical industries to develop new drugs, treatments and technologies, and a foremost global center for medical education. Sheba Medical Center earned a FederalWide Assurance (FWA) accreditation in 2002.

THM, the technology transfer company of Sheba Medical Center, is a prolific and substantial center for medical innovation. It currently manages a portfolio of 130 active patent families and has commercialized over 60 patents. 11 projects within Sheba Medical Center have been granted the prestigious FP7 grant by the European Union.